A MAJOR earthquake described as the strongest to hit Iran in more than half a century has flattened buildings near Iran's border with Pakistan, and was felt as far away as New Delhi, Dubai and Bahrain.
Reports say it killed at least 40 people in the sparsely populated region in Iran while in Pakistan, at least five people were killed, also in a remote community.
It also caused the skyscrapers in Dubai and Bahrain to sway.
Iran's Red Crescent said it was facing a "complicated emergency situation" in the area with villages scattered over desolate hills and valleys.
Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency and others described the quake, measured at least magnitude 7.7, as the strongest quake in more than 50 years.
It also was the second deadly quake to hit Iran in less than a week after a magnitude 6.1 temblor struck near Bushehr, on Iran's Persian Gulf coast, killing at least 37 people and raising calls for greater international safety inspectors at Iran's lone nuclear reactor nearby.
Iran's state TV said the quake was centred near Saravan, about 48 kilometres from the Pakistani border.
A previous report citing the country's seismological centre placed the strength at magnitude 7.5, but it was apparently revised upward. The US Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude at 7.8 and at a depth of 15.2 kilometres.
The quake was felt over a vast area from New Delhi to Gulf cities that have some of the world's tallest skyscrapers, including the record 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Officials ordered temporary evacuations from some high-rises as a precaution.
A resident in the quake zone, Manouchehr Karimi, told The Associated Press by phone that "the quake period was long" and occurred "when many people were at home to take a midday nap".
Pakistani news channels showed buildings shaking in the southern city of Karachi, where people in panic came out from offices and homes.
There was no immediate word on any damage and people were seen standing outside their homes and offices even minutes after the quack rattled various parts of the country, although reports say five people have been killed.
"We have received five dead bodies," Ashraf Baloch, a hospital official, told AFP by telephone from Mashkail in Washuk district, around three kilometres inside Pakistan from the Iranian border.
In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a magnitude 6.6 quake that flattened the historic southeastern Iranian city of Bam.
Source: news.com
Reports say it killed at least 40 people in the sparsely populated region in Iran while in Pakistan, at least five people were killed, also in a remote community.
It also caused the skyscrapers in Dubai and Bahrain to sway.
Iran's Red Crescent said it was facing a "complicated emergency situation" in the area with villages scattered over desolate hills and valleys.
Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency and others described the quake, measured at least magnitude 7.7, as the strongest quake in more than 50 years.
It also was the second deadly quake to hit Iran in less than a week after a magnitude 6.1 temblor struck near Bushehr, on Iran's Persian Gulf coast, killing at least 37 people and raising calls for greater international safety inspectors at Iran's lone nuclear reactor nearby.
Iran's state TV said the quake was centred near Saravan, about 48 kilometres from the Pakistani border.
A previous report citing the country's seismological centre placed the strength at magnitude 7.5, but it was apparently revised upward. The US Geological Survey put the preliminary magnitude at 7.8 and at a depth of 15.2 kilometres.
The quake was felt over a vast area from New Delhi to Gulf cities that have some of the world's tallest skyscrapers, including the record 828-metre Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Officials ordered temporary evacuations from some high-rises as a precaution.
A resident in the quake zone, Manouchehr Karimi, told The Associated Press by phone that "the quake period was long" and occurred "when many people were at home to take a midday nap".
Pakistani news channels showed buildings shaking in the southern city of Karachi, where people in panic came out from offices and homes.
There was no immediate word on any damage and people were seen standing outside their homes and offices even minutes after the quack rattled various parts of the country, although reports say five people have been killed.
"We have received five dead bodies," Ashraf Baloch, a hospital official, told AFP by telephone from Mashkail in Washuk district, around three kilometres inside Pakistan from the Iranian border.
In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a magnitude 6.6 quake that flattened the historic southeastern Iranian city of Bam.
Source: news.com
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